"This blog-a-thon submission comes from Joseph Kerski of the National Council of Geographic Education (2011 President). Joseph writes about why geography education matters and how it applies to each one of us."

Geography, is a subject where it takes all the skills from science, math, English, and social studies, and combines it into a in depth thinking class. It makes you find the problem, fix it and tell how and why you fixed it . For example, a crop is not growing in a dry area, then you try it in a wet area and it grows, now you have to find out why it grows in a wet area and not a dry area and explain why. It is good to start out early learning about the basics in the core classes then later in the more advance classes, to understand how to fix a problem.

"While the Korean War of the early 1950s never formally ended, its aftermath has created starkly divergent worlds for those living on either side of the north-south divide. What follows is a look at life in the two Koreas; how such a night-and-day difference came to be; and where the crisis could go from here.…

"The U.S. Census Bureau has designed a multimedia application experience, a story map, called 'Rural America: How Does the U.S. Census Bureau Define Rural?' This story map contains interactive web maps, tables, information, and images to help explain how the Census Bureau defines 'rural.' Many rural communities rely on American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, rather than ACS 1-year estimates, because of population thresholds. This story map helps data users understand the history and definition of 'rural.' Watch this video and then visit the story map to learn more." Visit the Story Map: http://go.usa.gov/x8yPZ

Census geography brings statistical data to life as seen in their newly designed interactive story map, called "Rural America: How Does the U.S. Census Bureau Define 'Rural?" Not only does this story map helps explain how the Census Bureau defines rural, but it displays some fantastic data that helps students to explore rural America. Many APHG teachers refer to unit 5 as the "ag unit" but the full title, Agriculture, food production, and rural land use, certainly does highlight why this can be a valuable resource.

The U.S. Census Bureau defines "rural" as an area with less than 50,000 people living in it. The majority of the United States is actually considered rural while a small minority of the country is labeled as urban. But interestingly enough, most rural areas are clustered around urban areas rather than in random locations. It seems as though the further out one ventures out from the center of an urban area like a major city, the more the population begins to decrease. One can also see in the same situation, the area transition from urban to rural. U.S. Census data can tell us a lot about populations in rural and urban areas and the correlation between them which can be important to know for many reasons.

"Because Israel refused to recognize the U.N. plan for an internationalized Jerusalem and because of its annexation of occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, no country in the world has offered legal and diplomatic recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Most states, however, have unofficially acknowledged Israel's sovereignty and actual possession, without recognition of lawful title."

That is, until now. The United States is planning to move it's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, in a move that will have far more reaching implications than the relocation of just about any other embassy on Earth could have, given the geopolitical significance of Jerusalem to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the broader international ties. Below are some resources to contextualize this shift:

It was a major move by the Trump administration with far reaching complications. Now it if you take out all of the past history in the area and all of the future political/military problems in the area does it make sense to recognize Jerusalem as the capital, well yes. However, in this world that we live in it surely is not that simple. With the past, current, and future arguments in the area between Israel and the Palestine's this further creates a rift between both and probably takes us further away from a resolution. From a geography and economic perspective Jerusalem would be a great central location in which to work from, however since there is so much contested space there it simply does not work. It isn't always the best place from a geographical standpoint (although in an ideal world that be perfect), but the one in our current political climate that makes the most sense for ones own country. This is a decision that we will have to look back at for the next decade or so and see eventually the impact that it will have on the current situation.

"Cartographers at National Geographic discuss how they select an appropriate map projection for the September 2012 magazine map supplement. --World maps usually center on the land, with the Pacific Ocean divided as bookends. To show each ocean as a whole with the least distortion for our 'Beneath the Oceans' supplement map, we used a map projection called an interrupted Mollweide centered on the Pacific."

There is no one perfect map projection that fits all circumstances and situations. Think of a situation in which this map projection would be an ideal way to represent the Earth and in another situation that same projection would give you an incredibly limited perspective. This video provides good insight into how to choose a map projection for a cartographic project. Here is National Geographic's lesson using this video.

This video explores some of the impacts of a declining population on a country (for example, a smaller workforce, economic decline, and growing public debt). Eastern Europe as a region is used as the principle example and the countries of Bulgaria, Moldova, and Japan are highlighted.

Yes, these globes are precise archives filled with geospatial data and locational information–however, that pales in comparison to the artistic brilliance of the globes. These hand-crafted globes are truly works of art. Marvel at the merger of mathematical precision and artistic design that makes a globe such as these a cartographic gem. If anybody want to get me a Christmas present, you know that I love cartographic gifts. FUTURE WATCHING: Here is the longer video of the Bellerby Globes being produced.

"China is the world’s biggest tea producer, selling many varieties of tea leaves such as green tea, black tea, oolong tea, white tea and yellow tea. Different regions are famous for growing different types of tea. Hangzhou is famous for producing a type of green tea called Longjing or the Dragon Well tea. Tea tastes also vary regionally. Drinkers in Beijing tend to prefer jasmine tea while in Shanghai prefer green tea. Processing raw tea leaves for consumption is a time and labor-intensive activity and still done by hand in many areas in China. The Chinese tea industry employs around 80 million people as farmers, pickers and sales people. Tea pickers tend to be seasonal workers who migrate from all parts of the country during harvest time. In 2016, China produced 2.43 million tons of tea."

Tea, the world's most popular beverage, doesn't just magically appear on kitchen tables--it's production and consumption is shaped by geographic forces, cultural preferences, and regional variations. These 21 images show the cultural, region, and environmental, economic, and agricultural context of tea.

"A fitness tracking app and national security don’t seem to be connected, and yet this month, the Pentagon has spent serious time discussing how to mitigate the impact Strava’s global data set being post online."

Geospatial intelligence is a knife that cuts both ways. We must consider all the possible ramifications of what might happen as we repackage, render and display geographic information.

Questions to Ponder: What are three discernible patterns that you can identify by analyzing the Strava Heatmap? What does this particular case study show for cartographers and others interesting in creating spatial information? What does this say for regular people now fully immersed in the midst of a geospatial revolution?

"[A new paper], published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, calculates that rivers contribute between 410,000 and 4 million tonnes a year to oceanic plastic debris, with 88 to 95% [of that total] coming from only 10. Those rivers are the Yangtze, Yellow, Hai He, Pearl, Amur and Mekong in east Asia, the Indus and Ganges Delta in south Asia, and the Niger and Nile in Africa."

Of river-based plastic pollution, these 10 rivers are responsible for 88%-95% of all the plastic gyrating in the world's oceans. Improvement in these key places could make a world of difference in improving marine ecosystems (NOTE: the map came from this alternative article on the same subject).

Baltimore harbor has an odd contraption that is scooping plastic out of Jones Falls before it reaches the outer harbor. If only this machine could operate in these 10 river systems, which are contributing waste to our embattled/trashed/overfished/warming oceans. .

When we talk about ‘English’, we often think of it as a single language. But what do the dialects spoken in dozens of countries around the world have in common with each other, or with the writings of Chaucer? Claire Bowern traces the language from the present day back to its ancient roots, showing how English has evolved through generations of speakers.

English has obviously changed much over the years, but this video (and lesson) also shows some good language family information and traces it back to proto-Indo-European, using the English as the main example. This other TED-ED video (and lesson) shows how the connotations of English words often times depend on the linguistic root (sweat--Germanic, perspire--Latin).

The trend is clear in Europe that following the creation of the EU and the beginning of open borders, scores of people from eastern Europe and western Spain and Portugal have moved in great numbers to the economic powerhouses of the continent. Settling along the Spanish coast, in France and the UK, residents of former Communist states are clearly taking the most advantage of the open borders. However, the influx of foreign peoples created disruption and led to situations like the Brexit movement.

The population changes in Europe recently seem to be related to both low birth rates and an increase in migration. Based on this map the most significant patterns seem to be that areas in south Eastern Europe are experiencing great population lows while France and Ireland’s populations are making significant gains. This trend could most likely be explained by migration. People in the regions of great population loss are most likely moving northwest in order to fill the many vacancies in Western Europe. The reason that these vacancies exist is because the population of Europe overall is aging, so there are many spots open from retirees. At the same time, the birth rates in most of Europe are so low it is causing the overall population of the continent to gradually decrease. Without domestic workers to fill positions, companies in areas with low birth rates, like France and Spain, are forced to hire foreign employees. The population loss in the eastern part of Europe seems to be due to migration. Whereas on farther west, the regions with high population losses, such as Spain, Denmark, and southern Italy, can be explained by low birth rates. The increased tension recently regarding immigration policies and Great Britain’s exit from the European Union can be explained by these trends. As people with different ethnic backgrounds who do not speak the languages of the countries they migrate to continue to enter countries in large numbers, many Europeans begin to feel threatened. This is why there are protests and the rise of political parties who run on anti-immigrant platforms.

Harrisburg University hosted a Humanitarian Mapping event Friday.Volunteers helped map regions of the world where publicly available maps don't exist or require updates.It's especially important after disasters like Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and the earth

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.